Fernando Leon de Aranoa affirms his status as one of the most gifted of a new generation of Spanish directors with the award-winning Mondays in the Sun. Cut from familiar cloth, but distinctive and unconventional in its execution, Leon de Aranoa’s film draws on a long line of European social melodramas in its examination of the trials of the modern-day Spanish working class. This is a film that departs from the archetypical working-class hero to paint a riveting and human depiction of men faced with a society which no longer values nor needs their labors.
Javier Bardem, as Santa, once again demonstrates why he should be considered in the top echelon of the world’s great actors with a multidimensional performance that exudes the complex array of feelings that unemployment and idleness bestow upon a man. When the shipyard in which Santa has worked his whole life closes, he and his ex-workmates struggle to overcome their increasing sense of desperation.
Working with an excellent ensemble cast and top-notch below-the-line talent, Mondays in the Sun speaks with a softly modulated voice that transcends the clichés of political accusations to leave us with a potent grasp of the real implications of globalization and economic progress. —Geoffrey Gilmore
Fernando León de Aranoa was born in Madrid in may 1968 and has a degree in image Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid. She started working as a screenwriter in television series such as turn on its own initiative, in programmes as the Un, dos, tres… responda otra vez and writing for comics Tuesday and thirteen.
His behind the camera debut in 1994 with the short film “sirens”, which was awarded in several national festivals.His first feature film was “family” (1996) which as usual his work also wrote the screenplay. In recognition of this film was awarded the Goya Award for best novel Director, as well as Valladolid SEMINCI audience award and the Fipresci award. The play was later adapted into the scene represented in several countries and stage
In 1998 he wrote and directed “neighborhood”, portrait of the lives of three young teens in a slum. Thanks to this job gets Awards Goya Best Director and best original screenplay. The film was presented in the official… read more
Sad and depressing. But thanks to the strong acting of a charismatic Javier Bardem a very fine film with room for humor.